Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Trading Down 2.5% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Alphabet's stock price declined by 2.5% to $191.54 during mid-day trading, with trading volume 54% below its average session volume.
• Several analyst updates revealed mixed ratings, with DA Davidson raising their price target to $180 and BNP Paribas downgrading their rating from “strong-buy” to “hold”.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21, which reflects an annualized dividend of $0.84 and a 0.4% dividend yield.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) shares traded down 2.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $191.93 and last traded at $191.54. 16,917,967 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 36,930,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $196.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.39.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $177.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.12.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alphabet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.